C-Notes: Scene's Music Blog

What to Do Tonight: OK Go

OK Go have gotten so good at making viral videos, it’s easy to forget that once upon a time they were just another band from Chicago playing pop-charged alt-rock songs. But maybe this is for the better since the group’s videos (the treadmill-driven “Here It Goes Again,” the Rube Goldberg-fueled “This Too Shall Pass,” the jumpsuit-splattered “End Love,” the new doggy-tricked “White Knuckles”) are almost always way better than their music. OK Go’s latest album, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (released earlier this year), is their sturdiest record, but — like those super-fun videos — they’re always delivered with a smirk. That can be fun when you can see what’s going on, but without the visuals, their white-boys-on-Prince funk quickly becomes annoying. There’s not much substance to the band’s music, which is even more frustrating when you realize that maybe the songs are meant to be secondary to the videos, not the other way around. Let’s hope OK Go bring some dogs, or at least treadmills, onstage with them when they come to town this week. OK Go, with Company of Thieves and Summer Darling, play the Beachland Ballroom at 9 p.m. Tickets: $15. —Michael Gallucci